50 Times People Couldn’t Believe Their Luck In Thrift Stores, Flea Markets, And Garage Sales

"The number of people buying secondhand has probably stayed about the same, but the way they are doing it has changed slightly," a representative of the Weird Secondhand Finds team told us about the changing face of secondhand shopping.

Though there are still plenty of eager shoppers looking for interesting and wacky items, the pandemic has affected things more than we previously realized.

"We've noticed that more people seem to be using online venues for their thrifting rather than going to physical locations, which given the current circumstances, we think is great. Thrift stores also seem to be embracing the option of going online just a bit more than they did previously. We encourage people to stay safe and use precautions if they do decide to go out, and we do not allow posts that show people not honoring precautions, such as not wearing a mask or with their mask pulled down while out in public," they said.

"As far as physical stores go, it seems they are experiencing the same changes as regular retail stores, such as occupancy limits, requiring masks in order to enter, keeping the fitting rooms closed, as well as plexiglass protectors at the register and some locations requiring the customer to bag their own purchase."

They continued: "Perhaps the biggest change is in the 'bin' type stores where they have had to significantly decrease the number of bins in order to allow for social distancing, as well as create a path for customers to follow rather than being able to choose their own path like they could previously. It's a lot less chaotic than it used to be at the bins."

One of the founders of the Weird Secondhand Finds group previously told Bored Panda all about how the community was created, how they got popular, and how they’re inspiring people to think differently about buying things secondhand.

“My family and friends have always had a love and passion for interesting and unusual things, and we had been texting each other photos of items that we saw (and often purchased) in thrift stores and at yard sales for years. My best friend and I were chatting on Christmas Eve one year and it occurred to us that it might be more fun to share our photos in a Facebook group, rather than via text so that it would be easier to go back and see what each of us had found, and to have a record of what we had seen through the years,” they said.

“It really all started as a gathering place intended for our friends and family but we left it as an open group purely because it never occurred to us that anyone outside of our circle would share this odd interest we have.” People then started flooding in, the co-founder started panicking, but then thought it’d be intriguing to see what others had to share.

“Who knew that what we all thought was a niche hobby actually has a huge passionate community behind it that just needed a clubhouse to gather in? Witnessing how people connect in this group is what keeps us passionate about running it. I personally put between thirty and forty hours a week into moderating the group but every time I see how much joy it brings people, I’m reminded why it’s worth doing all the work it takes,” they said.

The members of the online community are incredibly supportive of one another, embrace their quirks, and send each other gifts.

“Another wonderful side effect of this community is that it has renewed, and in some cases even sparked, an interest in secondhand shopping for a lot of people. They’re starting to see secondhand stores in a different light. We hear all the time from members who haven’t been thrifting in a long time or have never really been interested in it, and now can’t wait to go out treasure hunting.”